Patients recalled

"We've already been in touch with a few patients whom we maybe wanted to see a little bit quicker and some of those patients have already been seen. There are no immediate concerns about their well being," he said.

"There is a danger this will get out of proportion today and people will be getting very anxious, but we do not believe we have a major problem here.

"One of our consultants identified one or two cases where we felt the care offered by one of our doctors was not as complete as it should be, and as soon the management in the hospital were alerted, we decided to review that doctor's work in greater detail and we've been doing that over the last few days.

"They weren't necessarily critical tests but they were the sort of thing that we would not let go."

Dr Stevens said the individual doctor no longer worked at the trust but he had contacted the regulatory body to make them aware of concerns.

Several months ago the College of Emergency Medicine carried out an external review of the department. The BBC understands that those who conducted the review raised concerns abut patient safety and staffing levels. The review is due to be published in the next few months.

The Trust is providing an advice line which will be open from 8am - 6pm from Wednesday 26 June. The telephone number is: 028 9063 0500.